Faith
by Samswimmer
Summary: Everyone had hoped that the Hero's victory over the Twilight Forces would mark the end of Hyrule's decline and trigger an era of prosperity. Instead, it set in motion a dangerous force that would bring the kingdom into a darkness the likes of which it had never seen.
1. Prologue: The Vicar

**A/N: Ok, so I wasn't going to do this story until I finished my other one, but I've found my urgency for that one failing. Not my motivation, and it's not like writer's block. It's just that I can't seem to feel the urgency to make time for it outside work and school. So, in effort to keep writing, I'm starting a new story. I have to say, part of the reason is very selfish. This one isn't a crossover, so it'll most likely get more attention than the other. I'm hoping that will help me to be more focused. So, here we go. I hope you enjoy my story as much as I plan to.**

 ****This story deals with darker themes. There will be character death. Be aware.**

* * *

 **§ Prologue: The Vicar §**

* * *

A vast crowd of citizens stood in the courtyard at the center of Castle Town, watching and waiting in anxious anticipation. The streets were packed with bodies, with every nook and niche claiming a view of the proceedings filled by yet another member of the endless masses. In such a gathering, one of such size and density, one might expect festivity. Sound and fury; bustling motion and cacophonous commotion. But what should have been a warm, cheerful afternoon instead proved cold and silent. The multitudes observed in silent stoic vigil.

Before them, rising up in prodigious grandeur rivalling even the splendor of Hyrule Castle itself, stood a massive cathedral. Gothic ornamentation weaved like a web around towering spires, and flying buttresses supported the main structure, featuring at its the center a stained glass window depicting the triforce, in all its magnificence, with the symbology of the Golden Goddesses. The cathedral stood just to the west of the royal palace, and the buildings near the entrance had been removed, allowing the public to see the smaller number elected to participate.

At the base of edifice stood a few hundred people sequestered from the others. A large assembly, but in comparison a select group. Each wore a robe with a cowl obscuring their heads. The assembly was arranged in three distinct sections: on the left the devotees donned blue robes, in the center red, and on the right green. On an impressive balcony overlooking them stood several more figures. Three acolytes in purple garments remained ominously present behind three more individuals. These three out of all the assembly were alone in that their hoods were raised enough that their faces could be seen, portraits of terror.

Last among the assembly was an imposing character in bright golden robes. This man faced the congregation before him, declaring, "The accused presented have been found before the Ecclesia to be Faithless in the sight of the Goddesses. Only through immersion in the Divine Presences of Courage, Power, and Wisdom can their impurity be cleansed. Thusly, we surrender them to the Great Mothers, that They might restore the Faithless into Devout Righteousness."

Turning to the black-robed captives, he lifted his head to the skies, allowing his hood to fall. "Render Your Verdict, Your Hallowed Judgment, oh Goddesses, that we in Human Fallacy not condemn your Servant," he implored the heavens.

The priest moved to the first man and lifted his large Triforce amulet toward him.

"Render Your Verdict!" the assembly echoed.

The talisman, identical to the stained glass window behind it, began to glow brightly. The man, dark haired and sturdy, suddenly began to bleed from his mouth. He looked on, stoically resigned to what he knew would follow.

The congregation and the public beyond bore voiceless witness as the violet-wearing attendants lifted his head and slit his throat.

"Hear our plea!" shouted the assembly.

The golden cleric moved to the next, a woman of Kakarikan descent, and lifted the amulet toward her, again invoking the deities, "Render Your Verdict!"

Again the assembly repeated the phrase.

Just as with the man before her, blood trickled out from between her lips. Frantically, hysterically, she screamed in protest. Her cries rang out, piercing the thick silence, yet still unable to rouse the crowd from their tacit consent.

The attendants lifted her head and slit her throat.

"Hear our plea!" shouted the assembly.

The priest moves toward the final person, a blonde Ordonian adolescent, with the talisman. Her face was a mask of pure, unadulterated fear as the presider brought before her the accursed object.

"Render Your Verdict!" he appealed once more, and one final time the assembly echoed.

Her mouth began to drip blood. Too petrified to move, even to think, Ilia simply watched as the attendants lifted her head and slit her throat.

"Hear our plea!" shouted the assembly.

"We humbly appeal to thee, Holy Three! Hear our plea for our Fallen Brethren, and take them into Your Blessed Light!" orated the golden cleric.

The assembly responded in kind, "By Your Hallowed Mercies!"

Facing the acolytes once more, the priest declared, "We thank you, Sacred Mistresses, for your gracious Sanctification of these errant Faithless."

* * *

 **A/N: … Did I mention there would be character death? I did, right? So, I've been planning this for a long time, and after finally having written some, I'm incredibly excited to see how it plays out. Feel free to join me.**

 **If you have any advice or criticism, feel free and encouraged to leave a review. But never feel obligated. I wouldn't want to guilt you out of reading from some sense that you have to interact with me if you do. Some people just want to read, and I get that. That's often me.**

 **I most likely won't have any regular update schedule, so don't expect one, but I will do my best to update it at least enough that you can know it's not dead.**

 **I think that's all the house-keeping, so I'll go ahead and sign off! See you next chapter!**

 **-Samswimmer**


	2. 1§1: The Hero of Hyrule, Part 1

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm back already. Also, check out my spiffy new story cover image. I've been planning to write that sentence for at least six hours now. For some reason, I really wanted to say 'spiffy'. I really couldn't tell you why. Well, whatever. It's there, and I'm here, so let's start. But first, let's get something out into the open. I don't own Legend of Zelda. Clear? Yes? Good. I won't be repeating that. This is Fan Fiction Dot Net. What else would be here?**

 **EDIT: For those of you who looked in the first six minutes, the image may have absent or been the wrong image. Not sure why that happened. Sorry! It's been corrected.**

 **A few things I need to mention before we get started:**

 **I played Twilight Princess on the Wii first, so I'm using that map orientation. Gerudo is to the east, Death Mountain is in the west. Ordon is still in the south, and the north holds Zora's Domain. Link is still left-handed, however.**

 **I know that Uli's child is a daughter. I know. But I changed it, because I decided that I wanted to do so. It had no bearing whatsoever on anything in the game, so I don't really count it as a change.**

 **Additionally, I've taken the liberty of expanding the size of the world a bit. There are going to be more small villages, and we will assume that more people live in Kakariko and Castle Town than we could see. After all, a bomb shop couldn't really survive off of Kakariko's measly few people that we've seen, and I doubt they could have built such a big Hyrule Castle with just Ordon, Kakariko, and Castle town citizens working. Ordon will be for the most part as we know it.**

 **Similar to the population, the designs of houses and buildings seem to imply that they should be more complex but that they are made single-room to reduce nonessential resources and simplify the experience.**

 **Finally, I would have marked Talo as a character (replacing Zelda), but the closest thing in FFN's character list is Talon, and while I considered just putting in Talon for Talo, I thought it might confuse and/or annoy people.**

 **Those, and any other liberties I've taken and forgotten to mention…**

 **…**

 **Thanks a ton to liveforgod for folllowing and favoriting my story, and also to Life as the Moon, who followed as well.**

 **Review responses will be at the bottom.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Book I: The Rise of the Vicar**

 **§ - Chapter 1: The Hero of Hyrule, Part 1 - §**

* * *

Rusl watched as his family ate their evening meal. Life had become so busy lately, but he and Uli had decided that whatever else was going on, the four of them would make the time to eat dinner together. Obviously, there were exceptions, but tonight was not one of them. Tonight, Rusl could enjoy the presence of his wife and children. Of course, he was glad every night he had the opportunity, but this time would be especially entertaining.

Taking a bite of his soup, he smiled at the feeling of being near his family. Then, that smile turned slightly mischievous.

"We got a letter," Rusl announce, intentionally leaving out any useful specifics.

"Oh, really?" responded Uli, curious, "Who from?"

"Is it from Link?" Colin asked hopefully.

Rusl continued his slight smirk, pulling out a folded piece of parchment and reading its contents,

"To the house and family of Rusl Ordoneta, Commander of Her Majesties Royal Army,

"Having been a full year since assignment to your current position, the Archgeneral will arrive in fifteen (15) days' time to inspect and evaluate the quality of your service.

"-Office of the Archgeneral of the Royal Military, Link Farena"

Hearing this, Colin became instantly alert, "Link is coming!? It said fifteen days, right?"

Rusl, paused, savoring his game for a moment, before he looked back at the letter, pretend to scan it for information.

"Well, it says here on the envelope that it was delivered two weeks ago," the village protector casually noted.

Colin jumped to his feet, nearly knocking over his soup bowl.

Some of the broth splashed over onto his little brother, causing the one-year-old to cry.

Uli, moving to comfort her child, sympathetically cautioned her older son, "I know you're excited, but try not to make a mess. You got soup on Ariel." **[A/N: I don't like ANs inside, but I need to nip this in the bud. It's Ariel, a traditional male name in many cultures, pronounced AH-ree-el, not AIR-ee-el]**

"Sorry, Mom," Colin apologized. "Wait, did you know about this?"

"Of course I knew, honey," Uli smiled at him.

"It's not like she'd let me get away with that," Rusl commented.

His wife responded in a playful tone, "That's right. He knows his place in the family."

"Link's gonna be here tomorrow!" Colin exclaimed to no one in particular before looking back to his father thoughtfully, inquiring, "What was that word they put after your name, Dad?"

"Ordoneta?" confirmed Rusl. Receiving a nod, he explained, "It's Hylian. It just means 'of Ordon'. The military has taken to giving titles to people in order to tell them apart. I'm not the only Rusl in the world, you know."

"Oh," accepted the blonde. "And Link's? Faro… fara…"

"Farena," he assisted. "It means 'hero'. Queen Zelda actually started using that title almost a year ago. That's what gave the military the idea."

Still curious, Colin questioned further, "Do you guys know Hylian?"

"I certainly don't, but you're father does," His mother told him.

"Well, I know a bit. I'd hardly say I speak it, though," Rusl qualified.

"So why did they give you a Hylian title? Aren't we Human?" the boy persisted.

The swordsmith took a breath, knowing the conversation would not end soon. "Well, the Queen has been trying to rebuild some of our nation's old culture. That includes the Hylian tongue."

"What's wrong with our language?" his progeny probed.

"Nothing's wrong with it, it's just that everyone uses it," he responded.

"That's a bad thing?" Colin queried.

"Well it's both good and bad. It's great to have a common language that allows us all to talk to each other, but it's difficult. The Human language is used everywhere for business and diplomacy. We can communicate with anyone, but there's also a problem. Others can speak in secret using their own languages, like the Zora tongue, but we can't."

"…Do we have secrets?" Colin asked hesitantly.

"Well, our family doesn't," Rusl clarified, "but what if, for example, Her Majesty and Link were meeting with King Ralis. Even as a close friend and ally, there are certain things that he doesn't need to know about our kingdom. So if they wanted to discuss something private, they could use Hylian."

"Wouldn't he just learn Hylian? Or have another Zora learn it for him," the boy pointed out.

"Well, yes, that's true. But the same thing works for two businessmen. Not everyone will learn Hylian. After all, we haven't learned the Goron's language, have we?" the man prompted.

"I guess not…" the child ceded.

Uli took the moment to interject her own opinion, "It's not just politics and business, honey," she told her husband. Turning back to Colin, she informed, "Having a language and a culture for the kingdom strengthens the unity of the community. It brings us together."

"Ok, but why Hylian? Isn't Hyrule mostly human?" Colin pressed, deeply interested. Just over a year ago, he couldn't have cared less about politics and business. But now the two people he admired most, Link and his father, were both involved. Suddenly, these unexplored areas had become immensely fascinating.

"You'd be surprised," Rusl said. "Most Hyrulians are actually a mix of both Hylian and Human. Way back before Hyrule existed, the Humans and the Hylians were separate groups entirely, as much as the Zoras and the Gorons. Eventually, due to similar appearance and natural climate, the two groups merged. Here in Ordon, we're all mostly Human. But that's just because not many Hylians have come to our little corner. There are a few small places where most people are just Hylian, too. But in bigger cities like Castle Town, the population is very mixed.

"Since the Human language has become the common tongue, that leaves only Hylian. It also helps that Her Majesty the Queen and Link the Hero are both pure Hylian, or very nearly."

"Can you say something in Hylian for me?" Colin requested.

Rusl thought for a moment before saying, "Pelaul fian teita consed lunt fareta."

"What does that mean, Dad?" the son asked.

The father elucidated, "Roughly, 'My son should eat his dinner.' "

Taking the hint, Colin sat back down and continued his dinner, anxiously awaiting the following day.

* * *

Bright and early the next morning, Colin was dressed and ready standing out on the training field. Talo, however, was as usual barely on time, schlepping on to the grounds half asleep still putting on his gear as he shuffled into place.

A year ago to the day, the two boys enlisted themselves in the fledgling Royal Army. Of course, as children, they were merely training for the time when they would become truly a part of the army, but even so, they trained with the other recruits, receiving no special treatment from Commander Rusl on account of their age. He would, however, train them personally, one-on-one and one-on-two. Inspired by their admiration of Link and driven by a healthy dose of competitive nature, the pair had excelled, becoming respected members of the cadets. That's not to say they were best in class. Far from it, actually. Many of the trainees were former Castle Guard members, and most were in their late teens to early twenties. But despite the disadvantages, the eight- and nine-year-olds could be considered average amongst their peers.

Rusl had himself been placed in charge of the program on that same day. Recognizing the total failure of the Hylian Royal Guard to repel or even inconvenience the invaders from the Twilight Realm and further recognizing the Resistance's role in overthrowing the resulting regime, Queen Zelda completely reorganized the Guard into a new force, Her Majesty's Royal Military, and placed the members of the Resistance in high positions. The Royal Army, the principal division of the new force, was placed under Rusl's Command. He quickly asserted the need for better soldiers with better training, and immediately set about creating several training facilities around the kingdom. He established the first ones in Castle Town, Kakariko, and Ordon. Naturally, he ran Ordon's facility, allowing him to stay with his family and his village.

Seeing his father not yet present, Colin greeted Talo with a smile, "Hey, Talo!"

"What're you so happy about," responded the older boy, clearly annoyed that anyone would dare be so cheerful so early in the morning.

"Guess what!" prompted the blonde excitedly.

Talo just glared at him, so he took continued, "Link is coming today!"

Suddenly, the brunette didn't appear quite so drowsy. "Really? When?"

"I'm not sure," Colin answered. "My Dad got a letter saying he'd be here in fifteen days, and he didn't even tell me about it until fourteen days later. That was last night at dinner."

"Well, you're dad's pretty late," observed Talo. "Maybe he's already here."

"I'm pretty late, am I?" asked Rusl from his location a few feet in front of them.

Both children suddenly straightened up, their action accompanied by the sounds of quiet laughter from some of the other trainees.

"Umm," stammered Talo, "how long have you been there, sir?"

"Long enough, I think, cadet," came the commander's reply. "Luckily for you, I have things to attend to today. Otherwise, you might have some of your classmates coming to ask you why you though it was necessary to add a few hours of conditioning to the day's schedule."

While around the village, Rusl was kind and gentle, a good father figure for the all the children, not just his own offspring. When on the training grounds, however, he was first and foremost the commander. He had made it clear in the first few days that when training, Colin and Talo were to give him the respect and immediate obedience any CO expects from their men, just as if they were in a combat situation.

"Sir, thank you, sir," said Talo in a loud voice, immediately falling into his soldier role.

"This applies to all of you, cadets," projected Rusl, now speaking to the whole assembly. "You will perform the standard sparring regimen for the late afternoon now, and will continue until lunch. At that time, you will be released for the day."

He paused for a moment, choosing to be lenient and allow a few of his charges to cheer a bit, before proceeding, "Those of you with cleaning details will begin at dismissal, and I will assign watch details for this afternoon just before then. Those of you with watch details for the weekend should not think that they are excused.

"Also, training may possibly be canceled for one or more days at the begging of next week as well. I will post a schedule of details on my office door by tomorrow night if this is the case. Now, find your sparring partners and begin."

The recruits shouted an affirmative, "Sir, yes, sir!" in unison before moving into their exercises.

With a little more fervor than usual, the children of Ordon went through the motions of their drills.

"So why's he coming?" Talo asked between strikes.

A few more, and Colin found a time to respond, "He's here to see how Dad is doing as commander, I think."

"So," Talo suggested, "Rusl canceled the afternoon. Does that mean Link gets here at lunchtime?"

"I don't think he knows. I bet that's why he told us to spar. He can leave if Link shows up and it doesn't really matter," came the answer.

* * *

Rusl watched as his novices exchanged blows. There was certainly improvement from one year ago. Rusl had been successfully instilling the physical strength, skill, and discipline a true soldier needs. From his visits to Kakariko and Castle Town, it seems that there was comparable improvement in the other training campuses across the kingdom. And yet, the recruits were nowhere near fully trained.

On the one hand, Rusl's competency would ultimately be judged by Link, who he knew to be fair. Helpfully, the Hero was well aware of the kingdom soldiers' previous overwhelming ineptitude. But on the other hand, Link himself had to deal with the politics on a national level. As the Archgeneral, Link answered directly to Queen Zelda. But even as the ultimate authority in the kingdom, she herself was not immune to the machinations of the aristocracy. Others in the nation held power and influence in their own ways, and in the current fragile condition of the state, even the Queen couldn't expend political capital wantonly.

While Rusl trusted both Link and Zelda without reserve, he knew that the old power in Castle Town was not entirely happy with either the new power or the expenditure of resources to support the new military. As far as they were concerned, one hero had taken out an entire army and the powers behind it. It would be far cheaper just to let him handle all their problems. The argument looked like this: From Zelda's point of view, she has chosen the people whom, in the midst of invasion, proved most willing and capable to fight for and protect the nation; from the lords' positions, the queen had expanded the military to provide power and position to close personal friends and political allies who helped secure her power.

In the end, it all came down to Link's ability to use what Rusl had accomplished to justify his appointment to the nobles. If Link was going to succeed, Rusl would have to do everything in his power to succeed himself. It was plenty to be nervous about.

* * *

A man rode through Faron woods on a large horse, both metal-clad and glistening in the fragmented forest light. The splendorous sight could be described as breath-taking, even awe-inspiring. Unfortunately, no one was there to see it.

The man's armor was a glistening golden hue, so metallically reflective that the plates could be mirrors. From head to toe, his body was guarded by a calculated combination of leather garments, chainmail, and of course, plate armor. On his chest plate rested a symbol, emblazoned in dark red, representing his rank. The crest was similar to Hyrule's crest, with the triforce and centerpiece removed, replaced by the silhouette of the Master Sword pointing downward. On either side of its distinctive hilt was engraved triforce, and below each radiating wing of the Hyrule Crest sat a single triangle, on the left a representation of the Triforce of Courage, on the right the Triforce of Wisdom. On both the soldier's shoulders were unmodified Crests of Hyrule, and on his left gauntlet, yet another triforce, this one with the left piece highlighted.

This man was the Archgeneral of Her Majesty's Royal Military, Link Farena. Link the Hero.

Riding south from Faron Woods into Ordon Woods, he made a right turn just south of the springs.

* * *

"How much longer do we have?" asked Talo, breathing hard and leaning on his knees.

Similarly panting, Colin answered, "Less than half an hour, I think. I'm not totally sure."

Both boys took deep breaths, stood upright, and prepared to continue, but something stopped them.

For some reason, they didn't hear any of the usual sounds. No wooden clacks or metal clangs of the various degrees of practice weapons struck against one another. No grunts of exertion or pain as tools contacted tools, armor, and bodies. No chatter between combatants, quiet or otherwise.

Looking around, they saw that all their fellow cadets were looking toward the entrance whence an imposing figure observed.

The pair had to stop themselves from calling out to their friend on sight, ecstatic to see him.

"Ranks!" shouted Rusl in command voice.

Smartly, each cadet fell into rank and file, standing at attention, positioned with respect to the Archgeneral.

"Hand!" Rusl again gave the drill order.

In unison, the trainees saluted the Hero. Rusl as well Saluted and faced Link, deferring authority. Link slowly rode Epona around the formation. The air was tense. For the majority of the soldiers, this was their Archgeneral, the highest officer in the Royal Military, as well as the Hero, chosen by the Goddesses, who almost single-handedly rescued the queen and fought off the invading army. Awe-inspiring. Intimidating. Powerful. For Rusl, what Link saw here would determine the future of the Army.

For the Ordonian children, however, there was nothing but joyful suspense.

"Salute. Partial," Said Link, neglecting command voice in favor of his normal speaking voice, albeit with the volume somewhat raised.

The cadets lowered their salutes and switched to the at-ease stance.

"I understand that you're training will conclude in fifteen minutes, is that correct?" the Archgeneral inquired of the Commander.

"Affirmative, sir!" Rusl responded.

Link requested, "Have your men resume. I'd like to watch."

"Yes, sir!" the Ordonian said with a salute. Turning to his recruits and reverting to command voice, he instructed, "Resume!"

As the cadets returned to their drills with noticeably redoubled effort, Link dismounted and walked to Rusl's side.

"So, do I pass inspection," enquired Rusl, mostly in jest, but in slight apprehension as well.

"Seriously?" Link asked, no longer holding any pretext of rank or formality. "You did great. Every one of them is way better than the old guard was when we started."

"So," relief visible on his face, Rusl continued, "is it enough?"

Link thought for a moment, which restored a bit of Rusl's anxiety, but he then stated, "Yes. I'm fairly certain I'll be able to convince them. And if I can't, it's not because of you."

The two watched the sparring for a few minutes, and Link spoke again, "I can hardly believe what I see Colin and Talo doing. I wouldn't have thought you could get that good so young."

Rusl laughed and mentioned, "You know, some of the Heroes are said to have begun at nine. That's Talo's age."

"Yeah," Link replied, "but that's different."

"How do you figure?" Rusl asked.

The current Hero turned quizzically, "They're Heroes. The Goddesses are on their side, helping them. It's not the same."

"Oh, really?" Rusl retorted. "You think just anybody could be the Hero? I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Hero is chosen because they are able, not able because they are chosen."

Link didn't respond, simply looking back over the trainees.

A few minutes passed wordlessly and Rusl called, "Ranks!"

After the ranks had assembled before him, he addressed them, "Sessions are concluded for the day. Those of you who live in the barracks, lunch will be served in ten minutes. As usual, all schedules and other information you may need for the weekend is posted by my office. If there is any duty or detail assigned to you that is ambiguously affected by the cancelling of sessions, bring the issue to me directly and promptly. That is all. Dismiss!"

"C'mon, let's go!" shouted Talo impatiently, moving in Link's direction.

Colin hesitated, saying, "Dad told me that if Link came during training, we couldn't go see him right away."

"What!?" cried the bandanaed brunette.

The blue-eyed blonde shuffled his feet self-consciously a moment before stating, "We're supposed to go home."

In most cases, Talo wouldn't particularly care what an adult had told him, especially if they hadn't told him personally. But not only was Rusl present to punish him if he disobeyed, but he had learned on more than one occasion that disobeying your drill sergeant was a bad idea anywhere, all the more so on the training grounds.

Against his own wishes, he sighed and relented, "Alright, let's go."

* * *

"Is there anything you need to do right now?" Rusl queried of his commanding officer.

"Actually, no," Link let him know, "I only needed to check up on the training and the facilities."

He then put his hand up to his eyes like a visor and made a dramatic show looking around.

"Yep, looks good," he said facetiously. "But seriously, I just saw your training, and I've seen the grounds before. There's really nothing else for me to do."

"Well then, would you like to join the family for lunch?" Rusl offered.

Link nodded in appreciation and they began to head toward Rusl's house, "Of course. I've missed having meals with you guys. Often I get to eat with Zelda, but more often I'm eating with stuffy 'important' politicians."

"Yeah, that can be frustrating," Rusl sympathized. Though not to the same extent, as Commander of the Army he had his fair share of the same.

Link mentioned, "They're not all bad. A few of them are friends now, and a few more I'd consider reasonable. But I can't say the same about most of them."

A short while of small chatter later and Link was following Rusl through his front door.

"Oh, Link, it's so good to see you!" exclaimed Uli, giving the teen a big hug. "It's been so long! Oh, but you must be so uncomfortable in that armor," she doted. "Lunch is almost ready. Go get yourself changed—I'm sure you remember where things are—and we'll eat when you get back."

Link thanked her graciously before going to do as she suggested.

"Could you set the table for me?" Uli asked her husband, who responded by doing just that.

Another few minutes and Link returned wearing his familiar white tunic.

Everything ready, Uli called, "Colin! Lunch is ready!"

"Ok, Mom!" the boy called back.

Soon, Colin came down the stairs into the room, followed shortly by Talo.

"Link!" the two shouted, darting up to his seat.

Standing up to greet them, Link was surprised by Colin jumping into a hug. Catching the boy, he took enough weight on his left hand to reach over with his right and ruffle Talo's hair, who shot him an annoyed look but didn't resist or stop smiling none-the-less.

"It's great to see you too, Colin," Link joked. "And you too, Talo. Since when are you too such good friends?"

Colin responded eagerly, "Since we've been sparring partners for a whole year at training!"

"Actually," Talo differed, "probably since Kakariko."

"So is that why you're here, then?" Link probed.

Rusl took the question, "Actually, Talo eats lunch with us almost every day. Since he has the same lunch break as Colin and I, he usually just comes home with us."

"Alright, take a seat" Uli told the kids, who dutifully obeyed. Though the command was not directed toward him, Link took the hint and returned to his chair.

Seeing as three of the five had been in training and one more had traveled a long way that day, very little conversation occurred as the food was passed around the table. Once everyone had full plates, however, that changed.

"Oh! I can't believe it hadn't occurred to me yet," declared the matriarch. "You've hardly seen your little brother since he was born. Do you even recognize him?"

"He's definitely gotten bigger," remarked Link.

Talo looked confused for a moment, voicing as such, "Wait, Ariel isn't Link's brother. I thought he was Colin's."

"Well, I lived in this house with them when my parent's died, and stayed here until I was fifteen," Link commented.

Seeing that Talo still wasn't getting it, Link clarified, "Rusl and Uli adopted me."

Talo's eyes widened at the realization. Facing Colin, he demanded, "You're Link's _brother_?"

"Yeah," Colin answered bluntly.

Looking around to the faces at the table and realizing that he was the only one for whom this was news, he rather gracelessly changed the subject, "So, Link! What's it like living in the Castle Town?"

"Yeah, Link! You live inside Hyrule Castle, right?" Colin supported.

Link returned, "Well, there are a lot of things I could tell you about the town and the palace, but there's actually something I wanted to talk about more."

"What could that be?" Uli asked, curious.

"I'm sure you've all heard pieces of it, and I've told you a bit. Some of you were even there for parts. But it's been an entire year, and Zelda's still the only one who knows everything," began Link. "I want to tell you the whole story."

* * *

 **A/N: Would you like some exposition?**

 **Also, I'm really sorry for the huge author's note below. Each section is labeled, so you can skip whatever you want easily.**

 **So, anybody who knows anything in particular may be questioning things. To make that statement less general, I'll cite some examples.**

 **Regarding the Hylian Language: I decided that I wanted a real one, not just English or Japanese put to a new orthography. So I started working on one. It's actually quite functional at this point. I'll try not to use it too excessively, though. For those of you who know much about linguistics, it is not a one-to-one replacement of English words with Hylian words. I just decided to have a lot of fun with it, so it's a weird little language that uses postpositions rather than prepositions, is entirely ergative-absolutive, and makes no distinction between noun and verb modifies (i.e. adjectives and adverbs). It uses mostly the same sounds as English, because Twilight Princess already has an alphabet that corresponds to English sounds. During my looking around for this chapter, I did find someone else doing something similar, but I didn't look at the details, 'cause I didn't want to be influenced too much. I want to have fun with it.**

 **Regarding Ariel: As I said, it's pronounce AH-ree-el (IPA's** **ɑ** **for the first syllable), not AIR-ee-el. It is a reference to Aryll, if you were wondering. Even if you weren't, in fact.**

 **Regarding Epona: I wanted to talk more about Epona, but I'm no expert in horse coloring or breeds or anything, and when I went to research it, I found myself observing a heated debate of which I wanted no part. At some point, I may refer to her as some breed or coloring, most likely picking one of the major positions within that debate. But I don't know what I'm talking about, so if you disagree, please don't hold it against me. If any of you know more than me, I'd love it if you'd have the time to help me out a little so I don't end up looking like an idiot.**

 **Regarding the Military Protocols: So, in Majora's Mask, we see Captain Keeta and Link salute each other in the real-world style. I thought about making up a salute gesture, but then I realized that little fact, so the Hylian Military will be saluting just like Captain Keeta did. Based on this similar gesture (identical to some but not all nations' formal salutes), I decided to make many aspects of the military protocols very similar but not identical to many of the internationally common ones. This includes, of course, the drill commands I used, which were mostly pulled from various nations' official lists.**

 **Regarding the Military Divisions and Symbology: Most of this is to be discussed later in-story, but I will mention one thing. See my "Images and Symbols" remark.**

 **Regarding Images and Symbols: I have a DeviantArt page that I haven't used in a few years, but I'll post some images there relating to this story. This includes simple representations of the various crests and symbols as they are mentioned, the cover image, and a modified map of Hyrule.**

 **Regarding Hyrule: The map is restricted due to technology restrictions, so the world seems closed, as if everything is contained by odd boulders and mountain ranges. It seems to me that in a real analogue of this same Hyrule, this would not be the case. Essentially, this boils down to me adding new areas when I need more space to put things in the kingdom. So, as mentioned in "Images and Symbols", I'll be posting a current map online.**

 **Regarding the Prologue: Yes, this is the same story. It's en media res, in case you haven't picked that up yet.**

 **Reviews responses!**

 **Target 22: Thanks for the feedback! I hope I can provide more for you. Unfortunately (as I'm sure you've noticed), nothing more is revealed about the religion during this chapter. But fear not, it will come! Thanks again for the review.**

 **I really hope you've enjoyed what I've given you! Feel free to leave a review, favorite, or follow if you'd like.**

 **-Samswimmer**


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